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Ex-Mass. House speaker DiMasi pleads not guilty
Court News |
2009/11/15 09:48
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| Former Massachusetts House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi has again pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges. DiMasi and three co-defendants entered the pleas Thursday during their arraignment on an expanded indictment adding extortion to earlier public corruption charges. The original indictment alleged DiMasi and three associates rigged two lucrative state contracts for the software company Cognos in exchange for payments, with the former speaker pocketing $57,000. A superseding indictment handed up last month added the extortion charge. It says DiMasi accepted payments from Cognos and a second member of the scheme, Joseph Lally, knowing the money was in exchange for helping the Burlington, Mass.-based firm win the contracts. |
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Calif. fire suspect pleads not guilty to murder
Court News |
2009/11/14 09:50
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A prison inmate has pleaded not guilty to arson and murder charges for a 2003 wildfire that destroyed nearly 1,000 homes and was linked to five heart attack deaths in Southern California. San Bernardino County prosecutors say 28-year-old Rickie Lee Fowler entered his plea Thursday in Superior Court. Fowler is already serving time in state prison for burglary. He faces five counts of murder, one count of aggravated arson and one count of arson of an inhabited structure. The so-called Old Fire erupted in the San Bernardino Mountains above the city of San Bernardino in October 2003 and eventually swept across 140 square miles. A pretrial hearing is set for Nov. 30. Fowler's bail has been set at $1 million. |
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Fmr. slaughterhouse manager guilty of fraud
Court Watch |
2009/11/14 09:49
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A jury has found the former manger of a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa guilty on 86 of 91 financial fraud charges. The verdict against Sholom Rubashkin came Thursday evening after a nearly monthlong trial. Rubashkin was charged with bank, mail and wire fraud, money laundering and ignoring orders to pay cattle providers in the time required by federal law. The charges were linked to Rubashkin's job as a top manager at the former Agriprocessor's plant in Postville, Iowa. He was arrested months after a May 2008 immigration raid there that led to the arrest of 389 workers. |
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Man admitted kidnapping missing NC girl
Court Watch |
2009/11/14 09:48
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A North Carolina man has admitted to kidnapping a 5-year-old girl, authorities said Friday, but investigators still have not found the child more than three days after she disappeared from a mobile home park.
But the attorney for Mario Andrette McNeill, 29, said Friday that his client would plead not guilty to kidnapping Shaniya Davis. Fayetteville Police Department spokeswoman Theresa Chance said McNeill admitted taking the girl.
McNeill was charged with kidnapping while authorities dropped charges against another man, Clarence Coe, who was initially arrested in the case.
"We're hoping we find her alive," Chance said at a news conference. "We found Mr. McNeill, and Miss Davis was not with him."
McNeill had a first court appearance Friday. Attorney Allen Rogers said he only spoke briefly with his client, adding that he did not know what connection McNeill may have had with Shaniya or her mother. He also did not comment on the child's whereabouts.
Surveillance footage showed McNeill carrying Shaniya into a hotel room on Tuesday morning, when she was reported missing from a mobile home park. A hotel worker called police to report seeing a child matching Shaniya's description, but by the time police got there, McNeill had left.
Investigators used police dogs but could not pick up the child's scent during a search of the neighborhood. They found a blanket that may have belonged to the girl in a garbage can outside a neighbor's home.
Shaniya's father, Bradley Lockhart, made a tearful appeal Thursday for his daughter's safe return. |
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Kimberly Area School District's investment lawsuit goes to court
Legal Business |
2009/11/02 09:41
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KIMBERLY — An investment made by five Wisconsin school districts in 2006 would have been enough to cover more than two-thirds the cost of the 2003 Lambeau Field renovation.
Today, what's left of those dollars wouldn't be enough to cover one year of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers' salary.
It's a tough break, say attorneys for two financial firms. Still, they argue, it's not fraud as Kimberly and four other school districts allege.
A Milwaukee County judge on Tuesday will hear dismissal motions filed by the firms that argue the districts, which include the Kimberly Area School District, shouldn't be able to recoup a total $200 million through a civil lawsuit.
As of September, the investment held just 3.4 percent of its sale value. The districts filed the lawsuit in September 2008.
Tuesday's hearing, set for 9 a.m. in Judge William Brash's court, will be the first time the matter reaches a courtroom.
Terry Johnson, an attorney for the Royal Bank of Canada, argued in court documents the districts accepted the risk of their investment in collateralized debt obligations and initially benefited from strong returns. |  | | Page rank | | |
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